Posts Tagged ‘white’

Twice in two days at two different galleries I have encountered white, or almost totally white pieces of art.

This is “Untitled (Basel)”, 1969, by Robert Ryman (1930-2019) now on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Yes it is 5 white panels on a white wall. Before you scoff at this, one square similar to these sold in 2015 for more than 20 million dollars.

In the same room as the above is “The Rose”, 1964, by Canadian-born artist Agnes Martin (1912-2004). There is a pale pink colour to this one. The pink is made by a grid drawn by hand with red and black pencil, hundreds of red lines in all that “dissolve into a rose-coloured atmosphere”.

This is the view that greets you when you walk into the Olga Korper Gallery.

The art on the wall is an exhibit, “the laughter between two miles” by Ken Nicol. The pale grey pieces on the far wall were made with hundreds of pencil lines. Although the lines are in patterns of vertical and horizontal lines that aren’t quite a grid like the Agnes Martin piece above, the effect is the same. The lines are too close together so the eye sees it as a single colour.

In the example below, green, blue, and red lines make a design over letters. The letters are hand written (are you impressed? Do you care?) and they are “Sentences on conceptual art” written by Sol LeWitt and first published in 1969. LeWitt (1928-2007, American) is considered one of the founders of Conceptual Art. Apparently he once created something similar where all the if’s, and’s & but’s were connected. Here, the red lines connect all the art’s.

Text as a major element in a piece of art seems to be more prevalent these days, but that’s a subject for another day.

Instead, one last look at the Olga Korper Gallery before leaving – it’s a gorgeous gallery space.

This post features some of the doors that caught my eye as I walked a few alleys this past week.

below: It was the colour of the plant outside the gate that I liked – It’s almost a perfect match with the colour of the fence.

below: These grey metal doors are a common sight as are metal staircases. Were the boards an attempt at a wall? A hiding place under the stairs?

below: You can get your laundry done in this alley. There is even a bench to sit on while you wait.

below: At first I thought that this was a strange place to put a door. Very awkward! Then I realized that it was probably just an old door that was being used to fill in the gap between the garage and the neighbouring building.

below: An interesting texture

below: And last, another common sight, scrawls on the wall.

It’s been a few months since I did a blog post about doors. If you like doors, you might want to check out a couple of previous posts:

As I’m sure you all know, the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio have just finished recently. Canadian athletes won a total of 22 medals, almost a record number for a summer Olympics (tied with the Atlanta games in 1996). A celebratory ‘homecoming’ parade was held today to honour some current, and some former, Canadian athletes who call Toronto home.

below: Lots of people of all ages and dressed in red, or red and white, lined the Danforth from East Lynn park to Woodbine for the start of the parade. There were lots of Canadian flags!

below: Also pre-parade, Arda Zakarian from CP24 interviewed the crowd waiting on the sidewalk on the shady side of the Danforth.

below: Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne, made an appearance at the beginning of the parade. She didn’t walk in the parade, instead she met with the crowd who were waiting for the parade to begin.

below: Women’s beach volleyball players, Kristina Valjas, and Jamie Broder, sit on either side of their coach John May.

below: There was a giant Canadian flag held aloft by a group of people.

below: Name that athlete.

below: Rose Cossar, rhythmic gymnastics (2012).

below: Penny Olesiak and Michelle Williams, both medal winning swimmers, rode in a red convertible. Here they are being interviewed as the parade moved slowly down Woodbine Ave.

below: Closer up, Penny and Michelle.

The parade continued down Woodbine Avenue to Queen Street East where it end at Kew Garden. I didn’t walk that far with them. Apparently there was a very good turnout – lots of people went to show their support and/or their appreciation including the mayor, John Tory.

below: And last, a few more crowd shots! More red, more flags and more signs.

There were celebrations at a number of locations around the city
including Queens Park and Yonge-Dundas Square.

The red outline of a maple leaf was then used to make a “living flag” of people wearing red T-shirts and white T-shirts. The crowd waited patiently behind the barricades while the organizers got their act together. Not everyone stayed on the sidelines!

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The first part of the “living flag” takes their place in the stem of the maple leaf.

Listening to New Choir perform at Yonge Dundas Square

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One of the better seats in the house! Watching the acrobatics at Queens Park.

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It’s thirsty work being a beaver!

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As I stood as part of the white of the Canadian flag, along came John Tory, also on the white team. Just out of the picture (and also in white) was Miss Teenage Toronto. (What? We have a what? I had no idea there was a Miss Teen Toronto). Next time I’ll try harder to get a picture of her but this time I was preoccupied with being part of a flag.